The heat of summer
by deliquescence
Summary: Long hot days, and the searing heat outside brings out a rash involvement in the most unsuitable of places. And like the sun the warmth can make you feel whole, but the longer you stay and the more flesh you reveal the more it could hurt when its over.
1. Just looking

**Just looking**

The sun beat down upon the overgrown back garden of number 12 Grimmauld place where five bodies lay prostrate, stretched out and soaking up the opportunity to feel some heat on their skin on what passed for a lawn amongst the crowded shrubbery and straggly apple trees.

Only two weeks in to the summer holidays and already the teenage members of the order of the phoenix felt a little stifled by the constrains of the house and grounds. With everyone so busy with important business for the order, there had not been the chance for any trips to Diagon alley, or to the muggle streets of London with their tempting shops and teeming amusements, and things being as they were in the world at large, letting a group of fifteen year olds with a penchant for danger, a knack of finding it in unlikely places, and what may as well have been a neon sign over their heads calling for dark wizards to come and get them out and about unaccompanied would not have been the smartest move in anyone's books, and those aurors currently in residence at the headquarters had made it clear that there was to be absolutely _no_ leeway given on this issue.

Hermione, who had stayed up half the night before, reading a book on obscure, yet, she felt certain, potentially very _useful_, hexes, was now lying stretched out on her back. A small smile was playing across her lips which were just visible beneath that very self same book – currently at home across her face, shielding her eyes from the sun as she dozed in the early afternoon heat.

Ginny stopped watching the small bug which was making steady headway through the bushy curls splayed out beside her and glanced across to the boys. Propped up on elbows they were animatedly discussing the relative merits of two quidditch players that she had heard of but cared nothing about - hard not to hear of quidditch players with six brothers, one of whom was Ron. From the sounds of it, they were seekers for opposing teams who were playing that evening. She sighed loudly - would they _never_ tire of discussing the ins and outs of the game and everything associated with it?- and flopped back down, chin on hands, one leg idly kicking up in the air behind her as she continued to observe the progress of the wandering insect in her friends hair

The fifth member of the group sat a little distance away, and he was decidedly not a teenager. Hands by his sides with fists tightly clenched, Sirius Black was anything but relaxed as he stared unblinkingly up at the clear sky. If the others were beginning to find life on the premises tedious, Sirius was starting to feel life was beyond suffocating and not only had he been there for far longer than any of them, but there would be no shopping trips for Sirius, no later respite in the promise of summer excursions, and no relief as the end of the summer drew to a close and preparations were made to return to Hogwarts for the start of the new term as he would be left behind.

Left alone, at the mercy of visits from the order to relieve his solitude and introspection, he reflected that he remained as much a prisoner here as he had ever been in Azkaban. What use was he to anyone? A middle aged man, left to wait at home with a bunch of kids for his colleagues and contemporaries to return from fighting the good fight against the rise of evil. No one outside the order even knew of his continued existence, but if anyone ever found out they would have no hesitation- dark wizards or ministry alike- in seeking his immediate death. Now there was a depressing thought. He snorted contemptuously, though whether his contempt was directed at dark wizards, stupid wizards or just his own ineptitude in life that had left him in this state was unclear even to him.

Ginny looked up at the noise, and studied Sirius' inert form intently. His longish dark hair framed slate grey eyes fixed on the heavens, and he looked like he was wishing the sky overhead was filled with thunderclouds rather than the clear blue haze that was actually apparent.

She'd caught that look on his face a lot lately. She supposed he was brooding on times gone by; his life had been anything but easy from all that she'd heard since he'd been in their lives. It did him good to have Harry around, she was sure, he seemed to be the only one that could bring a smile to Sirius' face some days, but now he seemed heedless of the boys' earnest discussion though he was still boy enough that thoughts of quidditch would often serve to put that flashing grin across his chiselled features – it really was his best feature, she thought. Well, that or his eyes. The way one moment he looked like a… puppydog… eager to play, and the next, full of steely determination…. In any case… it was a shame that he didn't smile more often.

As her thoughts trailed off into incoherence, Sirius blinked once and turned to look straight at her. A trace of puzzlement etched across his features as he realised the source of the persistent eyes he had felt lingering on him as he lay. He saw her lips part slightly in an almost gasp and was bemused to see a flush of pink rise to her cheeks, and as she quickly turned aside, spread across the back of her neck and even tinge the tops of her ears. _That_ brought a smile to his face, then. There's no mistaking a Weasley, after all, he thought. They blush at the slightest thing until their skin blends right in with their bright red hair. What did the girl have to be embarrassed about, after all? She was just looking at me; though why she was watching me for so long, I have no idea. I was quite absorbed in my own bitterness, thankyou very much. No call to go breaking my self pitying reverie.

Ginny felt the heat spreading across her freckled cheeks and tore her gaze away from those eyes whose qualities she had been considering only a moment before. Why was I watching him for so long? He must think I'm so rude; some little kid peering at him slack jawed when he was quite obviously having a private moment. His eyes seemed to be looking into another place or time.

And why do I keep thinking about his eyes? I mean, it's not like I _fancy_ him or anything. He's old enough to be my father, and that would just be…wrong. She pulled a face at this thought, but as his face – yes, complete with puppydog eyes and winning smile - appeared in her head, she bit her lip. No. That would just be silly. This is Sirius she's picturing. Not some boy from school. And since when did he have _puppydog_ eyes anyway?

Hermione sat up with a startled look on her face, book flying spread-eagled to the ground before she realised quite where she was. Looking around, she took in her immediate surroundings and then exclaimed, 'Oh - Blast!' rather too loudly as she realised that she had crumpled the poor pages of her treasured book.

Ron and Harry stopped their conversation and realising the cause of their friend's distress – they should have guessed, really – burst out laughing, as Ron laughingly remarked, 'I never thought to see you treat a poor defenceless book in such a way 'Mione, I'm really quite shocked. And as for such a scandalous expletive coming out of your mouth….' He and Harry carried on laughing, Hermione's habit of using markedly un-offensive swearwords being a joke they had enjoyed at her expense for several years now.

'Shut up you two!' Hermione whined petulantly, reaching across to punch Ron on the arm. 'I can't help it if my mouth's not been dragged through the gutter like yours.'

And she settled down to read the book; muttering as she did so about which hexes she'd like to try out on them when they got back to school if they carried on teasing her. Still laughing, the boys shot amused glances at each other, but there was a distinct touch of uncertainty in their eyes; she wouldn't, would she?

After a short while the boys, finding they had for one day at least exhausted the topic of quidditch, departed to go play a game of exploding snap indoors away from the burning heat. Ginny sat, threading daisies into an ever-growing chain and surreptitiously sneaking glances from beneath her lashes at Sirius, who had resumed his prior posture but was now regarding the sky with a more benign countenance as he considered that, all things considered, life could be a lot worse at Grimmauld place.

It was amazing how you never really looked at somebody properly when you saw them every day Ginny thought, twisting the flowers in her hands.

Ginny stayed curled up into the corner of the battered sofa, which was so soft she was always surprised she didn't sink right through it and out the other side, she had one foot tucked up underneath her, always her favourite pose when she was reading, and with her teeth she tugged at a bit of skin at the edge of her nail, lost in thought.

Hermione was, as always, occupying the opposite end of the couch and she had not looked up once since retreating there after dinner, with yet another book that she had found in the Blacks' extensive magical library. The two girls had become closer than ever since the end of the year, and sharing not only a house, but also a room, they seemed at times inseparable. Ginny loved Hermione to bits, but being best friends with her did seem to result in an awful lot of time spent reading and she longed for something to liven up her summer.

She was distracted by a commotion at the head of the stairs, craning her neck to see what was going on. Sirius wrestled Harry out of his bedroom and across the landing, pinning him playfully against the wall and reminding him that as an adult, he is perfectly able to take out his wand and hex him to high heaven should so much as a single other item from 'Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes' make its way amongst his unsuspecting belongings with unfavourable results. Harry looks up at him and grins, 'unfavourable to who, exactly…?' he enquires, with a wicked look sparkling in his eyes and reaches up, unselfconsciously, to muss his untidy fringe. A matching grin lights up Sirius' face and he laughs, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder. 'I swear Harry boy, you grow more and more like James every day. I have to keep kicking myself to remember that its not him leaving 'surprises' in our room, and that I'm supposedly the responsible party here and can't beat you up for it.' Harry grinned right back up at him, 'You? Responsible? I have to keep kicking myself to remember you're not one of us kids. Come on. Fancy a game of something in our room? I've still got some chocolate frogs left, I think.'

Ginny watched the interplay with some amusement, shaking her head. Sirius certainly didn't act his age most of the time, and he didn't look it either, she reflected. Not much older than her brothers really, certainly not as old as Arthur. Most of her thoughts, however, were occupied not by their conversation but by the twin smiles the two had been sporting. Harry certainly was still attractive she thought wryly, even if she was long past the stage at which she couldn't meet his eye without a blush – but in comparison to Sirius, an analysis she had been covertly making – he seemed rather like, well, like a boy. Sirius stood taller, and having lost that haggard look he emerged from Azkaban with, was wirily muscled while Harry retained a certain gawkish adolescence, endearing perhaps, like his cute smile, but - in _comparison_. Sirius's features were more defined, his hair darker, and instead of sticking at any angle in defiance of gravity, it curled slightly in front of his eyes in a way that Ginny bit her lip thinking about. I can't believe I noticed all of that, she thought. They were only standing together for a couple of minutes. A couple of minutes, however, was long enough to confirm in Ginny's mind what she had grudgingly realised on the lawn that afternoon. She did find Sirius very attractive. In fact, judging by her initial blush earlier, she was in the distinct danger of developing a full on crush. Please don't let anyone notice, she begged silently. It's not like I _can_ do anything about _this_ crush. But she would certainly be looking at him properly from now on. Oh yes.

Turning back around, she was disconcerted to find Hermione's eyes fixed upon _her_. 'what?' she asked rudely, on the defensive. Hermione simply raised an eyebrow, and leaning forwards, clasping her hands around knees, smiled triumphantly. 'You were watching him.'

'…yes,' Ginny replied sarcastically, 'I am allowed to look at people, you know.'

'Well, yes' said Hermione, still with that smile on her face. 'But you were looking at him like you were a cat and he was the canary _and_ the cream. You like him.'

Biting her lip once again, Ginny was panicking. She could just see the look on Ron's face when he found out she fancied Sirius.

'I knew it!' Hermione announced. 'I knew you still fancied Harry.'

Ginny wasn't sure whether to burst out laughing, deny it or go along with it instead, but as Hermione took her silence for an admission and had made her mind up already in any case, it made very little difference either way.

She sighed. At least this way she avoided the awkward questions about Sirius, and the scrutiny she would be under every time she so much as looked his way. It was always hard enough to maintain a coherent conversation with a guy once she knew she liked them, without having friends eyeballing your every move. Not that she got so flustered that she didn't know how to get it together with a guy if she was really interested, Ginny reflected, an involuntary smile gracing her lips as she thought of the boys at Hogwarts – I guess my blushes make them feel more confident or something. But that was at school. This was different. It wasn't like Sirius was going to suddenly….

'I saw that smile,' Hermione cut in, 'don't try and deny it. You totally do still like him,'

Ginny sighed once more. Now she would undoubtedly have to deal with Hermione's attempts at matchmaking….

Predictably, the older girl smiled. 'So what are we going to _do_ about it then…?

'Nothing.' Replied Ginny; careful to make her face perfectly flat and neutral. We're not going to _do_ anything at all. And neither are _you_.' She added quickly, with a stern glare at Hermione, who looked dumbfounded that her offer of help had been so flatly rejected.

Still, she's bound to come around, Hermione thought…. Another week in his company and she'll be going crazy if she can't have him, if I know Ginny at all.

And that was _exactly _what Ginny was worried about.


	2. Just thinking

**Just thinking **

The heat was pressing down upon the group, larger this time, that stood ranged about the walled garden, laughing as Ron attempted to wrestle George to the ground, an enchanted ball struggling equally hard to escape the clutches of the pair of them and continue its aimless twisting path unfettered.

The two of them fell over in an undignified heap, hard to the baked ground, limbs entangled in an angry embrace as they grappled for the ball. The winner this round was the ball itself which flew out from either's grasp as Ron pried open his brothers fingers.

As the object of the game rebounded on its helter-pelter path around the lawn, the boys all chased after it eagerly, seeking to be the first to gain possession or to be ready to take it from whoever did.

The girls hung back slightly from the group, wanting to be a part of the fun on this sunny day, but not quite so confident of their place in the game. Not much chance that they'd keep hold of the ball in any case with that lot after them, and the game was really more or less an excuse to fight each other playfully- with no real aim or winner.

Ginny was fast, and a good wriggler, having spent her entire life with older brothers and their games, but she knew all too well that she was no match for any of the older boys in strength, and feared how silly she'd look trying to tug the ball away from someone who could swing her round in the air like a child.

She never used to have these insecurities when she was younger and it was just her and her brothers back at the burrow. Then she would charge straight in fearlessly, trying her hardest to compete with them at whatever they did; ignoring all the taunts that she was too young, just a little girl - and when she inevitably got hurt in the fray, she would sit; stubbornly biting her lip and refusing to cry as the tears welled up in her eyes.

The difference, she supposed, was that she was really _not_ a little girl anymore. And it wasn't just her brothers she was playing with. The boys fighting over at the other end of the lawn seemed to be having some kind of mass brawl, bodies pinning each other to the ground in ways that looked, well, downright _compromising_….. and while the thought of being pressed up against her own brothers was slightly uncomfortable, the idea of finding herself thrown to the floor by Harry - or, God forbid, Sirius - was enough to make her blush.

As she stood, hovering in indecision, the ball came flying out of nowhere straight towards her face. She caught it as a reflex, and then, realising the onslaught of maleness about to launch its collective self at her; shrugged and taking the opportunity to play in earnest, ran as though the grim were at her heels, swerving and twisting her way through the shrubs at the side in a bid to outwit her pursuers.

She sidestepped Fred, and narrowly snatched her ankle out of the grasp of Sirius, breath catching in her throat. Gleefully she ran, until behind some fruit bushes, she was knocked to the floor by a grinning Harry. His weight on top of her, he set his hands to the struggling ball, but as she looked up he paused, meeting her eyes, and parted his lips, just a fraction.

Tense again, Ginny got up, wrinkling her brow in puzzlement. Had Harry been about to say something? Or was he… thinking about _kissing_ her? No. He'd never looked twice at her back when she had liked him so much. Or did she still like him? Life was confusing sometimes - even when you _weren't_ being possessed by an evil diary….

Ron now making off with the ball, laughing at the surprise on Harry's face, they came to a standstill in the centre of the lawn. She couldn't help but watch with morbid fascination as first Harry, and then Sirius, each peeled off their sweaty muggle t-shirts to reveal… slim, toned torsos… with …. Ginny ran her tongue over her bottom lip, rapt, as Sirius turned and stretched, a line of sweat running down the centre of his chest to where a line of dark hair disappeared into the waistband of his ripped and faded jeans.

How could she not think about how good they looked and how she would like to….to what?

Oh Merlin, that thought could not be finished right here. Unformulated concepts leapt to the girl's mind. Hazy, yet decidedly featuring the path of that lucky bead of sweat and her own pink tongue.

She blinked and looked quickly at Hermione, but the other girl's attention had stayed purely fixed on the main action of the game; where Fred was sitting triumphantly on Ron as George pulled at the ball trapped between the two.

Ginny recognised the focused yet distant look in her eyes

Ah. Thought Ginny. I guess I'm not the only one with a crush….

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Sirius lay on his back, moonlight streaming in through the open curtains at the tall window. The crescent moon was beginning to wax steadily, heralding the return to full health of his werewolf friend, who had been in for dinner at number twelve for the first time since his latest transformation.

Looking at the moon always made him think of Remus, and the first times they had spent the full moons together as teenagers at Hogwarts. Always in the company of the other marauders, each taking the form of their respective animal counterparts as they ran free around Hogsmeade; arrogantly, recklessly, thinking that they could restrain the beast that Lupin became.

Sirius had always been the reckless one. Acting on instinct, because everything had always come easy to him. It wasn't that he never thought things through; it was just that he could never quite persuade himself of all the reasons why something was not a good idea quite in time.

Like the 'prank' he pulled on Snivellus, one full moon in their sixth year.

Like his legendary success with the female students - not to mention a couple of the teachers – no matter who they were, or who they were with.

Like the relationship that he and Moony had almost shared and he had monumentally screwed up.

Like his foolhardy decision to rashly track down and confront Pettigrew in the aftermath of the attack on the Potter's

Remus had always been the careful one, right from the time he had first met him as an tall, serious-eyed eleven year old, shy with his second hand books and his secrets to keep. It was James and Sirius - Potter and Black – who terrorised the school with their pranks even as they charmed them with their easy smiles and quick wits.

It was the two of them who later discovered how they could turn those smiles to good effect on the girls of their year and they quickly gained a reputation for being the most sought after boys in the entire school. Remus had his own small following, and Peter was more than happy to comfort those that had not found favour and got his share too. Between them, all the pretty girls in the school had been involved with a marauder to some degree or another - evoking fierce arguments when they clashed over the same girl.

Following a lengthy and determined onslaught, James had found a love that should have been destined to last forever in Lily Evans, the muggleborn witch who had tempered his arrogance and pride with her determined kindness and fiery disposition. Lily's long red hair and green eyes had fuelled more than a few of Sirius's own teenage fantasies – not that he had ever admitted this to his best friend; but Sirius had never learned to settle down and continued to play the field in which he was far more talented than even the quidditch pitch.

How could he say no to a pretty girl? Not to mention more than one of the boys…. If he wanted someone, Sirius had always gone for it. He would dare to seduce anyone and was always up for a challenge. And he always got what he wanted, where women were concerned at least.

That was how things had always been; before.

Of course, those days were long since gone and he and Remus were the only two left now. What had become of all those dreams they had when at school? James and Lily had been brutally murdered, and even the though this had freed the world of Voldemort's influence for the last fourteen years, it could never seem to make the loss worthwhile in Sirius's head. James had been family to him, and the thought that it was he who had persuaded him to use that rat Pettigrew as secret keeper had nearly driven him insane with guilt in Azkaban. Dark thoughts of vengeance had sustained him more than dreams of a life with Harry and with Moony throughout all those long years of torment.

The boy he had once been was still evident in his character, but the man he had become was angrier and more bitter than he should have ever been. His entire adult life had been spent alone, more as dog than man. It sometimes seemed that all the intervening years had never truly occurred at all. That he would wake to find himself no older than the others here…. Sweet merlin, but that boy looked like James!

A half smile flitted across his handsome features at the thought of his godson; today had been good for him, playing games in the sunshine as though they were all carefree and normal. He remembered with amusement Ginny launching herself through the air at George, long red hair swinging over her shoulder as she tripped him unceremoniously to the ground. That girl certainly had spark. Sirius turned over onto his side and attempted to find a comfortable spot on the large and endlessly empty bed.

There were still good things in the world, but it was a lonelier man who tossed and turned tonight, finding as ever that late at night, sleep evaded him.

TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT

Sirius was not the only one to lie awake, long after the lights had all gone out. On the floor below, each of the girls waited in silence in their separate beds, listening to the unfamiliar creakings of the old house and just thinking about what would never be. Never? No, well….no, itjust _couldn't_be…


	3. Just planning

**A/N:** I know, I know, it's been a long time since I posted the first two chapters. My last week after exams was all a bit crazy with my own love life deciding to exist all of a sudden kind of - and since then I haven't had internet access. It's been killing me.

Things will heat up soon, I expect. You can't rush these things.

A more light hearted chapter here. Managed to slip in a 'serious' pun, and you can look forward to Makeover!Ginny in the next chapter. Embrace the clichés! It's harry potter fanfic after all….

**Disclaimer:** I am busy making JK's characters do untoward and questionable things because I am too lazy to come up with my own world.

**Just Planning **

Everyone was gathered around the dinner table. It was large, carved of dark mahogany and extending the length of the once grand dining room. Presided over by the haughty stares of Sirius' pureblood ancestors in their dark and watchful frames, and lit by the harsh glow of an enchanted chandelier, the evening meal was well underway.

Molly had grudgingly admitted that Kreacher was a good cook, and was beginning to let the muttering house elf undertake the bulk of the work in the kitchen; though always with one eye following his actions. He might be blood-sworn to obey the commands of the last surviving Black, but you never knew when the tricky little being would find a loophole in his instructions big enough to kill them all through.

The dishes were, as every night, plentiful. The young Weasleys always found it such a conundrum to decide which was better; the food at Hogwarts or their mum's cooking. Harry was beginning to wish he had not bulked up so much at the end of the summer term. This was one summer he was certainly not going to need to rely on a secret stash of birthday cakes under the floorboards.

Ginny had showered before dinner and, being painfully aware of Sirius at all times, was vain enough to strive to look good. It was silly, she knew, about as far away from a date as sharing a nice meal could be, but there it was. Nothing was ever going to happen, but at fourteen, Ginevra Weasley was woman enough to want him to look at her and actually see _her_, not just one of the kids.

She was careful not to overdo it though. Having taken to wearing muggle clothes more frequently than she ever had before following a shopping trip with a Hermione who knew her way around a high street, she had received a few sharp glances and disapproving comments from her mother whenever her necklines plunged lower than wizarding tradition dictated or she wore a skirt shorter than ankle length. It wasn't fair she thought. It's not like I look like… _that_ kind of witch. I'm just _young_. - but not as young as she seems to think I am.

She sighed inwardly, something she seemed to be doing far too often just lately. She knew that she was too young. Too young to fight for the order, too young to have a chance with Sirius; too young to know what she was letting herself in for if anything happened anyway. What did she know? She hadn't even sat her OWLs yet, and the relationships that she had had thus far had been rather more the awkward flirtations of adolescence than any real romance or commitment. Even if she succeeded in getting those _damned_ eyes of his to notice her; to look at her _appreciatively_; what then? Where was she hoping that this could ever go?

Ginny was sat between Hermione and Tonks, who was sporting a sleek bob in a rather fetching shade of bubblegum pink, and a ring through her bottom lip. It seemed to be Tonks' turn to attract the stern looks from Molly tonight, her bright hair colour rather overshadowing the scoop neck of Ginny's green top; though as always, Tonks appeared oblivious to any disapproval – or perhaps it was what she was aiming for. She never liked to conform, that much was obvious.

Ginny blinked, realising that she had been paying very little attention to the buzz of conversation passing around her in soft girlish voices. Hermione had her head cocked slightly to one side and was regarding her with an enquiring glance. 'Well?' she asked, as though she had been awaiting a response for some time.

'…er - yes?' Ginny ventured, praying fervently that this was an adequate response and that she had not just agreed to something terrible. The other two grinned conspiratorially 'Wicked!' Tonks declared, 'that's sorted then. I'm around all tomorrow afternoon and we can have a go then.' She winked broadly at Ginny and suggested, 'He'll be pleasantly surprised, I'm sure.'

Ginny became even more confused, 'Who will?' she asked haltingly, Sirius? What would he be pleased about? about ….her?... and the girls?

'It's not like we haven't noticed that you are giving rather more of your attention to the other end of the table than to our scintillating conversation,' Hermione cut in, gesturing knowingly to where Harry and Sirius sat, engaged in an animated conversation about amusing hexes with Kingsley Shacklebolt. 'trust me, when Harry sees you, his eyes'll be poppin' out of his head.' Tonks added with a smile.

Ginny laughed uneasily, 'that's a good thing, I take it?'

What was going on? Was this a scheme for some kind of _makeover?_ That sounded like a cliché out of one of the films that Hermione had talked about, or the kind of book that lay hidden _behind_ her lengthy tomes of Dickens and Shakespeare. Certainly not the kind of thing that generally happened in the wizarding circles of Ginny's experience. Then again, Tonks _was_ a metamorphmagus, so presumably had tried out her fair share of looks over the years. Her current pink bob was just the latest of a parade of vibrant colours and styles that had graced her head since they had first met, and Ginny was pretty sure that she'd sported several different noses and skin tones too.

'It's definitely a good thing.' Tonks replied.

'So…. What has my mother got to say about our plans for tomorrow? I can't imagine her being over the moon about any plans that are going to get boys eyes doing anything when they look at me,' Ginny laughed, raising her eyebrows.

Tonks grinned wickedly. 'Well; she did _say _she thought it would be nice for me to spend more time with you two, for you to have a younger woman around. I believe "get some girl time" was the expression she used, and Arthur has plans for tomorrow that she's not yet aware of, so she won't see you straight off'

Ginny's eyebrows rose even further in disbelief, taking in the most important part of this comment; ' "_get some girl time"?_ …she really has been reading _Witch Weekly_ too much just lately…'

'Hm?' Hermione muttered, still looking across the table.

'Seems to me that _you're_ the one who's a little _preoccupied_,' Ginny ventured. 'Perhaps we could get some eyes to be looking at you with a little appreciation tomorrow night. Like my youngest brother's, maybe?' she suggested slyly.

'I have no idea what you are talking about.' Hermione returned, haughtily. 'There is absolutely nothing _going on_ between me and Ron. He's one of my best friends and that's all there is to it. Besides, _Viktor_ wrote to me last week, remember? If only he didn't live so far away…..' She sighed dramatically.

Ginny and Tonks nodded understandingly, and she decided to leave it for the time being, but Ginny wasn't about to let Hermione get away with such a brief and frankly unconvincing denial.

Denial, yeh - that was about right.

Hermione turned to Tonks, on the defensive. 'So who have _you_ got your eye on then?' She asked, 'surely that eye-catching hair and talk of makeovers is in aid of something, or _someone_, rather? You're round here nearly every night for dinner, so it must be somebody from the order…'

'Its none of your business, either of you, what is going on in my love life. Or more to the point _isn't _going on,' she grimaced. 'so there's nothing to tell.'

Hermione and Ginny exchanged looks. Apparently these things didn't get any easier even after you left school behind.

The girls were not the only ones to have been making whispered plans around the dinner table. As the cleared plates made their own way merrily to the kitchen; the twins, with a Ron looking fit to burst following in tow made their way across the room to divulge their own plans for the following evening, which would fit in rather well, as it happened.

Must be fate or something.

'Dad's taking Mum out to dinner in Diagon Alley!' Ron announced hurriedly.

'yeh….. so? I'm hardly about to get excited about my parents love life am I?'

'Ah, but think what it means for us, my little munchkin, go on - I'm sure you can figure it out if you put that immense brain power of yours to work on the problem…' Fred said with a wink. Ginny glared at him.

'Judging from the look on your faces, which I have seen far too many times before at school, you're planning something which your parents would not approve of, were they around.' Hermione replied.

'Knew there was a reason she was known as the brains of the bunch, eh Ron?' George returned. 'Yes, there are some…plans… for tomorrow night, so you girls be ready for a bit of fun.'

'You might want to be ready for a little surprise of our own,' Tonks grinned. 'I'm sure you boys'll approve… I take it I _am_ included in this rather vague invite?'

'Absolutely.' Fred said. 'Not just us kids who'll be here, is it? Remus and Sirius will be making an appearance for definite for a start.'

Tonks' smile brightened considerably.

'Is this a good idea?' Remus turned to ask his oldest friend, with a worried look in his soft amber eyes. 'You know Molly will kill us if anything untoward happens. I can just imagine the look on her face… "_You're supposed to be responsible adults! You were their teacher for Merlin's sake! I leave you all for _one_ night!"_… it'll be worse than the howlers I've heard the twins receive..'

'Well I think it's an _excellent_ idea.' Sirius answered honestly. 'The best I've heard in months, in fact. It's about time we actually did something of an evening now that here are all these people here. And it's not like I can go _out_.' He sighed.

Understanding filled Remus' eyes. 'Oh Padfoot,' he said softly stroking his friends dark hair. 'I know it's hard for you; here day after day, while we all go about our business. You've done more than you know just by giving us this house…. Just by _being_ here. These days, it's almost as hard to find friends as a known werewolf as for a dangerous convicted murderer, you know.' He gave a wry smile and their eyes met.

Neither of them were the same as when they had left school together nearly twenty years before, those years had taken too harsh a toll on both of them, for all that the wizarding world at large had been enjoying a respite from peril and fear, and now that fate had seen fit to bring them together again, for a time at least, in a parody of the life they had once envisioned, dark powers were threatening to rip apart once more all that they still held dear. And neither of them was in a position to persuade the world that the time for action had come.

But they had each other again.

The last two marauders.

And the marauders had ever been up for a party.

'You're right,' Remus decided. 'A night of being thoroughly irresponsible will be good for all of us, and the kids are young, they need to have fun. Hell, I'm still young; I'm sure I can find some fun to be had' he added with a wolfish smile, pun intended. 'Even with that much firewhiskey, what's the worst that could happen? I'm tired of being serious all the time.'

'hey, Moony, if you think _you're_ tired of being Sirius….'

And they both laughed, just as much as they had done when they first made that gag and it wasn't even any good back then.

'And when you say _fun_; that wouldn't have anything to do with a certain young cousin of mine would it?'

-- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -


	4. Just realised

**Just realised**

Harry, Ron and Hermione were all sat on the sofa deep in conversation. Ginny knew she could have squeezed in as well, but hearing their recollections of times gone by, shared together battling evil or some days just detention she recognised that she would never really be a part of that special bond that the three of them shared, forged and tempered over the last four years. She didn't want to intrude. They accepted her without any complaint once term ended and they all took up residence at number twelve, and she knew that Hermione certainly enjoyed having another girl around, but she was well aware that she was the last minute add-in to a group that had been well established since before she even received her Hogwarts letter.

After all, at school she had her own friends from her year. It still wasn't the same though. Though she always seemed to get on well with everyone in Gryffindor, there was nobody that was around in the holidays, they each had their own families and best friends to spend the summer with, and there was nobody who knew about the order in her year, so they couldn't come here in any case….

She wandered through to the next room, picking up her book from the table, and curling one foot underneath her, took up her place in the windowseat looking out to the front of the house as the setting sun cast its golden, pink-tinged rays across the silhouetted skyline. Beautiful. She watched the bands of purple cloud drifting across the scene and was momentarily lost in the moment, forgetting even her loneliness.

But she was no longer alone.

Sirius Black entered the room silently and caught sight of her framed against the soft light of the tall window. She looked so vulnerable, one knee tucked up tight to her chest, with her slender arm curled round and her chin resting on her other hand. Her sheet of red hair hung down long and loose down her back and it was shining – positively glowing – with a myriad of subtle highlights where the fading light touched it. It looked like it was made of liquid copper and gold against her light skin.

He stared transfixed as she reached to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, and turning her profile full towards him, he recognised two things. Firstly; just how pretty a girl the youngest Weasley had become and closely following it, the realisation that he should not be anywhere near so affected by the first thought as he just had been.

She was just a kid for Merlin's sake. He really needed to get out of the house.

Late in bed that night, Hermione whispered to her friend, 'Tonks seemed rather pleased to hear that there were certain older guests included for tomorrow. I was watching her after dinner, to see who she was looking at. I think that Tonks likes Sirius – I mean, _likes him _likes him, you know?'

'Oh.' Ginny said, wondering why it felt like her heart had reached somewhere around her knees. What was it to her, anyway? But the thought of seeing Tonks kissing Sirius, of knowing that she and he might be…. It made her spine turn to ice.

Unable to sleep once more, late at night she pushed backed her covers and tiptoed down the creaking old staircase. Standing in the kitchen, she paced back and forwards with a glass of water in hand and looked out at the moonlit garden. Summer nights never seemed to get truly dark, she reflected. A sudden urge led her to slip open the door and step outside onto the dewy lawn, wet beneath her bare feet as she stood in her slip of a nightdress. She looked up at the midnight blue sky and its scattering of bright stars, crisp in the firmament and span round, arms held out to her sides till she became dizzy; then lay back on the ground, unheeding of the dampness against her bare legs and through the thin fabric of her shift.

A large black dog watched, unseen, from the depths of the shrubbery. He could smell the subtle fragrance of the girl the moment that she stepped out from the dark house, and something about the scent made him want to rumble with pleasure deep within his chest. His mongrel ears cocked to attention as she twirled and her skirt fanned out. His tail began to wag involuntarily even as he chided himself sternly for the avidity with which even the human part of his mind regarded the slender figure he could see all too clearly beneath her frankly inadequate garment. What was she thinking to come outside on a night like this, dressed like that? He had come out here, to run free as an animal for a time to avoid thinking about what she looked like.

It had been a long time since Sirius Black, one time Romeo of Hogwarts, had been with a woman. Long years in prison and a life on the run were not exactly conducive to forming meaningful relationships, and while he had not remained celibate throughout his time abroad with buckbeak, his involvements had been fleeting and since returning to his childhood home he had grudgingly acceded to the demands to remain underground, venturing out only in his canine guise.

Seeing the beautiful girl in the first oh-so-tempting bloom of youth who had broken through to his sensibilities so startlingly only earlier today laying down, damn it, _invitingly, _on the moonlit grass wearing next to nothing with her hair splayed out framing her face was sweet torture to the man who watched through a dog's colourblind eyes. He fought the impulse to whine like a puppy and debated whether or not to make himself known to her. He couldn't help but feel rather like a dirty old man as he peered out from the bushes at the teenager who believed herself alone but the thought that she was forbidden fruit somehow appealed to his sense of challenge, of risk. He always had liked to live life on the edge and having a healthy disregard for the rules; the spice of danger only added to the sweetness of a seduction.

Ginny shut her eyes and thought about the coming day. She thought about her friendships, she thought about the twins' plans, and she thought about Harry, but most of all, she thought about Sirius.

She opened her eyes, horrorstruck, as she felt something warm and wet tickling at her toes. Her heart skipped a beat until she saw that it was only a dog licking her feet, but then it skipped two more as she realised that this was not just some stray that had made its way into the garden by chance.

'Snuffles?' she said enquiringly, 'Sirius…?' The dog regarded her with slate grey eyes in the exact shade she had been picturing moments before, but transfigured into those of a scruffy yet loveable beast of a dog, head tilted to one side and tail thumping as though he knew he was adorable.

She smiled and reached to pet him unselfconsciously, scratching behind his velvet soft ears and stroking his silky black fur, reaching round to his sensitive tummy. Damn but she was good. The dog appreciated the simple pleasure of the sensation and the closeness it bestowed, but the man in him was driven to distraction by the desire to have those hands touch him in his own form.

Sweet _merlin_ he should not be thinking this; even given that as the dog, his instincts bubbled closer to the surface, these thoughts should not be plaguing him. The girl wasn't trying to act the part of some damned temptress; she was just ….

She impulsively dropped a kiss on the end of his muzzle; he could not resist licking her face, her neck, as she giggled and shuffled away from him across the grass, pushing him back. 'Down boy, bad dog!' she laughingly told him. 'Do you think I want your slobber all over me?' a blush crept up the side of her neck and rose to her face at this comment. Interesting, he thought. And then mentally slapped himself. He could not put his tongue on _any _part of her, let alone _all over_.

But maybe _snuffles_ could, without too much of a scandal arising, the playful side of his mind suggested…

He licked her hand and whined, turning his most adorable puppydog eyes up to her face. 'Oh, alright then. You're not a bad dog. Though why you should care, as you're not really a dog at all, I'm sure I don't know.' She said, bemused.

He thumped his tail on the ground and licked her bare legs.


End file.
